Peter Warren found guilty in Lakeside Manor fire

After just over one week of testimony the trial of Peter William Warren, 49, of Redwood Falls held in Redwood County Fifth District Court concluded this past Tuesday when a jury of his peers found him guilty of 12 of the 13 counts he faced, including second degree unintentional murder, second degree man-slaughter and 10 counts of first degree arson.

Comment

By Troy KrauseEditor

Redwood Falls Gazette

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Nov. 19, 2013 at 10:25 AM

By Troy KrauseEditor
Posted Nov. 19, 2013 at 10:25 AM

After just over one week of testimony the trial of Peter William Warren, 49, of Redwood Falls held in Redwood County Fifth District Court concluded this past Tuesday when a jury of his peers found him guilty of 12 of the 13 counts he faced, including second degree unintentional murder, second degree man-slaughter and 10 counts of first degree arson.

The case stems from the Jan. 24, 2013 fire at the Lakeside Manor apartment complex in Redwood Falls.

“There was a lot of evidence,” said Steven Collins, Redwood County attorney, who prosecuted the case. “The state had a solid case against Mr. Warren. Even though much of the evidence was circumstantial, that evidence pointed in his direction.”

Collins expressed his appreciation to law en-forcement, including the Redwood Falls Police Department and the Min-nesota Bureau of Crimin-al Apprehension for the great job they did in gathering the evidence that helped to secure the guilty verdict.

Collins also commended the Redwood Falls Fire Department for its role in the case.

“We would not have been able to succeed without their work,” said Collins.

The one count the jury decided Warren was not guilty of was third degree murder, which is a lesser charge than murder in the second degree.

What is important to emphasize, said Coll-ins, is justice was served for Gene Gill-and who died as a result of the fire.

“He could not speak on his own behalf, so we got justice for him,” said Collins.

With the verdict now handed down, the court has ordered a pre-sentence investigation, and Collins said that process takes a few weeks. What that means is Warren is likely going to have his sentencing hearing sometime later in Dec-ember although no date has been set.

Collins said there is a possibility of running consecutive terms for the conviction, which would mean a longer time in jail for Warren.

“This was a tragic crime that impacted the entire community,” said Collins. “There were 56 people living in that apartment building who had to find someplace else to stay in the middle of the winter.”

Collins expressed his appreciation to everyone involved in this case, adding he believes it was a good case and the right conclusion was reached.